Health & Fitness
Shorewood's Green Team Snow and Ice Plan Is Not Working
Shorewood system to keep sidewalks clear of snow and ice fails on first snowfall and ice storm.
According to the village newsletter, keeping Shorewood sidewalks clear of snow and ice for a "walkable" community is suppose to work as such:
The Green Team will survey the Village 12 or more hours after a measurable snow event at the request of the Director of Public Works. A notice will be left on the door of delinquent properties noting they have 12 additional hours to complete snow and ice removal. A list of delinquent addresses will be given to the Police Department. If the snow and ice is not removed in a timely manner, the Green Team will return to remove the snow. The property owner will be charged a $15 fee plus snow removal charges at a rate of $50/hour. Total charges will be added to the property owners tax bill.
It will be interesting to see what the response is to the snow we just had yesterday. But the system did not work for the last snowfall we had.
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On the previous snowfall most residents quickly cleared the snow away and most residents took measures to keep their walks clear of ice, which became very pronounced due to the very wet snow mixed with drizzle. Also the partial thawing in the sunlight and the re-freezing of the slush and snow in the night.
The result was that after the previous storm, many sidewalks were impassable in a safe manner. Throughout Shorewood, many residents had to resort to walking in the street, as long patches of ice and frozen slush at many residences precluded them from using the sidewalks.
Find out what's happening in Shorewoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
On one trip to Walgreens, I noted that most blocks had an average of five to six homeowners who did not remove the ice and frozen slush from their sidewalks. One corner house across from Lake Bluff school was especially bad, and neither the sidewalks or the street crossings were cleared.
In order for the system to work, the DPW manager needs to alert the Green Team to do inspections, and it appears that the DPW management was remiss.
The police department would get referrals from the Green Team if the system is activated, and since DPW failed to do so, there were no referrals.
Let's hope the village does a better job during the rest of this winter season, and keep Shorewood a pedestrian friendly community --- without the need to walk in the streets.
